Anna Panagopoulos, who came from Greece at age 22, is known for baklava and loukoumades (“Greek doughuts”) at the Greek Festival marking 50 years this weekend. Joyce Marshalljlmarshall@star-telegram.com

Anna Panagopoulos, who came from Greece at age 22, is known for baklava and loukoumades (“Greek doughuts”) at the Greek Festival marking 50 years this weekend. Joyce Marshalljlmarshall@star-telegram.com

“Our children are all spread out now, but they sure love Greek food,” said Mary Kime, 84, born here into a family that spoke only Greek and now one of the elders of the annual festival at a church northwest of downtown.

Over the coming years, Greek immigrants and their descendants would go from packinghouse workers to river-bottom truck farmers and, in wartime, proud sons fighting for America.

Every time I work here, I feel this is my home.

Anna Panagopoulos, the “loukoumades lady” of the Greek Festival

In 1956, according to Star-Telegram archives, the women of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church made cakes, pies and baklava and held their first “pastry sale” outside a grocery on West Seventh Street near the Monticello neighborhood.

One of the women was Artemis Smith, whose family still owns the Paris Coffee Shop.

“They made all kinds of pastries, but the Greek items always sold first.” Kime said.

“They said, ‘Why don’t we hold a community bake sale?’ ”

In 1967, the event expanded from a one-day church bake sale to a three-day food festival.

1967was the year the church’s Greek bake sale expanded to a festival. This marks 50 years, although the numbering has varied.

(The church has renumbered the festival several times. For decades, 1969 was counted as the first year. But if you count back to 1967, the festival is 50 years old and this is the 51st event.)

Volunteer Gus Galantis said the festival is a tradition: “To see everybody — people you haven’t seen for a year, they show up for the food festival.”

Anna Panagopoulos moved from Greece and has been a volunteer for more than 40 yesrs.

She was a 21-year-old in Greece when she exchanged photos with an American man.

“His cousin and his sister [were] — matchmaking? That’s how you call it?” she said.

“He came Thursday night. He saw me Friday. We said ‘yes’ on Friday night,” she said.

The next day, they were engaged. The following week, they were married.

For decades, she has helped command volunteers through 12-hour days of cooking Greek dishes and buttering, baking and slicing thousands of pieces of baklava.

About Bud Kennedy

Bud Kennedy is a homegrown Fort Worth guy who started out covering high school football here when he was 16. He went away to the Fort Worth Press and newspapers in Austin and Dallas, then came home in 1981.

Since 1987, he's written more than 1,000 weekly dining columns and more than 3,000 news and politics columns. If you don't like what he says about politics, read him on barbecue.